Autodramatics

Andy Caffrey, one of the two guitarists and singers in the Horrors, formed the Autodramatics in the wake of the Horrors. The Autodramatics transcended Caffrey’s old band in terms of size and scope, retaining the blasted-out fuzz of the Horrors, but adding female vocals with a classic Ike & Tina, rhythm and blues sensibility.

The Autodramatics sat on a number of songs for several years, eeking out a Find the Gun 7″ on Goodbye Boozy Records in 2007. Finally, earlier this year, they released their collection of songs on vinyl as the Emotional Static LP on Caffrey’s own Obsolete Records.

Now, just a few months later, the Autodramatics are releasing their second full-length record on October 7. Titled Reaction, the record will be limited to 250 copies and will be available via Obsolete Records. Joining Caffrey on guitar, vocals and keys is his wife Daniela Caffrey aka Danni DeKille, Latisha Lee Knight (Liberty Leg) and Sarah Cram Driscoll on vocals, Mike Martinez (Liberty Leg) on drums and Joe Derderian (Thee Almighty Handclaps) on “fuzzy bass.”

Recently, we had the opportunity to trade words with Caffrey on the current state of the Autodramatics, their upcoming release and rock and roll in general.

Little Village: Where did you record Reaction? When and where were the songs written and how was the process?

Andy Caffrey: We recorded the record at home, here in Fairfax in our ’70s style, split level house. The landing between the levels by the front door had the highest ceiling, so we crammed Mike and his two-piece drum kit in there. [We] isolated one guitar amp in the shower downstairs, and the other amp in the separate half of the bathroom. Mr. Fuzzy Britches, Joe D., got a whole room to himself for the bass tracks. We recorded all the rhythm tracks in a day and brought the girls in afterwards when they had time to do vocals.

A couple of the songs were old ones I had laying around. But for the most part they were created as a product of the situation. ‘Hey, we’re making a record!’

Our idea was to work on it awhile, then record a version. We recorded a couple different versions of all the songs. Then I edited them in mixdowns to make it all work.

Everything was done piece by piece. It was like making a drawing. Light sketches here and there. As you get into and you start to see where your vision is going you start to press a little harder on the pencil. You make your lines darker and more prominent. At the end you don’t really notice all the light strokes of the pencil. Just the drawing as a whole.